by Benjamin Taylor, Michael Agustin and Brett A McCall
Art, education, economics, propaganda. Games are arriving at the forefront of media to become an important way to engage entire generations of people. What's different from before? Five billion people are replacing the most common communication device, the simple cell phone, with a full-fledged gaming system in their pocket. There are multiple ways to publish and distribute games over the Internet and to the masses. For many, game creation is becoming a regular activity, as tools become both easier to use and more powerful for people without programming knowledge. This panel will cover unique perspectives on how games are becoming more meaningful forms of expression and a significant tool for communicating ideas.
LEVEL: Beginner
How Near Field Communication (NFC) and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) will change the wireless industry, user experiences, marketing, and shopping. Mobile phones a now being looked as a ubiquitous device that plays an increasingly important role in our lives. The mobile phone started as a tool to talk to people while away from a landline. Apps began to emerge on legacy phones, with the networks controlling content. Smart phones and most importantly the Iphone changed this stranglehold on content by creating an open developer ecosystem. Now the mobile phone is more akin to a computer than a phone. As the mobile phone increases in importance and new features are integrated such as RFID and NFC technologies the functions the mobile phone is used for will likewise increase.
Today we use the mobile phone to use apps and surf the net. Tomorrow we will use the mobile phone to open doors (literally), pay for our purchases, earn loyalty rewards, redeem coupons and much more. The introduction of NFC and RFID into the mobile phone, which is a certainty, will not only change how we as users engage with our environment but also how retailers and marketers as well as network operators do business. Network operators will begin to look more like credit card companies, marketers and retailers will now be able to track purchases and redemption of coupons, in turn rewarding these behaviors with loyalty reward points.
LEVEL: Intermediate
by Raj Singh
LEVEL: Intermediate
LEVEL: Intermediate
by James Pearce
LEVEL: Intermediate
LEVEL: Intermediate
This panel will discuss how companies can create best mobile mobile user interfaces, avoiding many of the pitfalls of poor design. Mobile user interfaces are not just squished down to fit the small screen, but require an understanding and application of technologies, users, and contexts of use to create the best possible interaction. Core principles for designing mobile interfaces will be discussed, as well as design patterns for use in mobile web sites and applications.
LEVEL: Intermediate
Developing across different mobile platforms has long been a pain point for mobile developers, but what about designing for the same apps and services to run across multiple types of device form factors? New form factors don't just offer bigger screens or keyboards over mobile phones; users also interact differently with them.
The most prevalent example of this is with iPhone apps moving to the iPad: creating a app for the tablet isn't simply about adapting it to a bigger screen, but utilizing the differences in hardware to offer users a better experience. This scenario is just the tip of the iceberg, though: Android is making its way into all types of devices, like Google TV, which will allow developers to create apps for both phones and televisions. GPS maker TomTom has announced that its future devices will run a version of WebKit and support third-party apps. Nokia's Terminal Mode and Continental's AutolinQ projects look to extend the app experience into automobiles.
This panel seeks to build a high-level understanding of what successful cross-form-factor development entails, beyond simply adapting content for different display types. Attendees will learn best practices -- and educational failures! -- from leading designers and developers, and how they can incorporate emerging form factors into their apps and services to create an enhanced user experience.
LEVEL: Intermediate
by Craig Negoescu
LEVEL: Intermediate
LEVEL: Intermediate